German designers neongrau.id have created Veloheld, a pared-down bicycle for cycling in the city.

With narrow handlebars and one gear, the bicycles come in black or white.

A limited edition of 100 bikes will be produced this year.

neongrau.id also supply the Veloheld frames for those who want to build their own bike.

Here's some more information from neongrau.id:

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Product description

The veloheld bike shows how pure cycling can be. It was renounced of all unnecessary things like gear shift or excessive graphics.

A short wheelbase, a single gear and a narrow handlebar are the only equipment you need to explore the city.

The creators of the veloheld, among them a former member of the track race national team, reduce their bikes to the absolutely necessary parts. Furthermore they offer them in two minimalistic colour versions: the white-model, only contrasting by some black components and the black model where even the smallest nut is all black.

Because of the limited number of 100 bikes in 2008 every bike is tagged only with the current serial- and model number behind the Veloheld logo at the top tube – nothing more.

For all who want to create their bike themselves the veloheld frames in 3 sizes and 2 colours are the perfect starting point.

Toss in some clean quick release skewers and this bike is spectacular. The butting looks to be CrMo, but could these be Al? If these are CrMo, I would have opted for internal cabling to further clean the appearance. I guess they like to keep things honest in Germany. I love the old-school aesthetic without the oversized/aero profiled tubing. So simple, so classic. My Miyata has some beauty competition from Germany…

http://www.nilsvik.com nils

a beautiful bike…
but there’s no visible difference or improvement to the thousands of single speed / fixed gear bikes already available.

yoyo

What the..?!?!?
You have to be kidding me…
What kind of entry is this?!??!

scott d

i love bikes.

this is a nice concept.

however, the world needs another single/fixed gear bike like it needs a kick to the crotch.

besides, any bike is perfect for exploring the city. just get out there and ride.

http://hans.com hans

smart

navy…

pop

i want my back seat back… apparently these designers have never seen a dutch bike.

i dont like this bauhaus bike.

ceedo

It’s a Marin Hamilton 29er.

There are plenty of manufacturers making a nearly identical version of this bike for much much much more practical of a price.

Post

I ride it, I love it!
Yes, it’s CroMo. Concerning the cables, you can flip the rear wheel to get a fixed gear bike and remove all brake stuff without any marks left…

http://miasto-masa-maszyna.blogspot.com miasto-maßa-maszyna

this bike is some kind of qui-pro-quo.

it has no advantages real city bike should have. it does not even has mudguard or luggage for your morning paper or city guide. and without any lights riding it in germany is illegal anyway (of course you can hardly be stopped by polizei and punished for that). without gears and with rather narrow tires it does not look as a machine for common biker for daily use. anyway – as a bike for profi-biker, it’s again nothing special.

as a demonstration of aestethical purism it’s also not so surprising it’s desired to be. just take look at couriers bikes and you’ll see what really bike purism means.

of course it looks very elegant. you can stand it in your living room and impress your guests. if you want to really ride it – you will have to modify it and you will loose it’s “purity”. it’s just an expensive gadget. expensive as for a gadget of course, because for a bike 800€ isn’t anything special ;-)

of course i like the idea of having no logo’s, no fancy colour-fadings and so on. but having this it’s not so hard to get – almost any custom made bike i’ve seen goes that way. this frame really looks very elegant, but i’m afraid it’s too delicate for using it to build trekking bike (and that’s the kind of bike should be built on such shaped frame – trekking, not city bike).

before you’ll say: you’re missing a point that it’s a designer’s bike, i response in advance: yeap. it’s designer’s bike. and main difference between design and scuplture is that design is a compromise between aestetic and usability. this bike is too much piece of art, too less – bike, especially city bike.

daje

wt..???!?!?!
there are thousands of bikes like this.
there are thousands of new products every year based on a design that renounces of all unnecessary things . just think about all the product in the muji stores. i can’t see anything interesting in this entry

Zenza

You are kidding, right?!

Why is this post here?! This is completely normal. Nothing stands out here… this is just a regular boring bike.

What IS THIS?!

MIRTEC

nice and elegant design, but the single-gear is completely uncomfortable when you ride your bike frequently…

Rasmus Linck

in denmark, bicycles like these are very common, and has been for ages…

Cp

Is this a joke??

Bikes similar with this is everywhere…

stev

With round wheels! Cool idea!

Fbot

Omar………. you’re going to love this!

http://www.contentwithstyle.co.uk Matthias

I like it, but it needs to be foldable for the nice-weather-only cyclist, at least for London Transport.
I’ve seen this almost-grownup sized foldy bike recently, also very straight forward, a lovely way around these silly restrictions.

extra

So?

http://www.raincitybikes.com Brian Park

Most of the people who make complaints about this bike are complaining that it isn’t the right bike for them; what you need to realize is that a bike can be a good bike even if it’s not right for you. If you want a folder, don’t criticize a bike on its not being a folder, and if you want a full range of gears, don’t criticize a bike for being a singlespeed.

There is a market for single speed, simple bikes, and there is a REASON for that market. Just because it’s not the right bike for you, or me, doesn’t mean it’s not a quality bike that should be produced and will be very useful for many people.

Yes, what they’re doing isn’t a new concept, but it looks like they’re doing it pretty well. The geometry looks really good, and they have some smart parts choices.

Complaints? The dropouts are ugly as sin, and the parts reallllly don’t justify the price tag. Worst of all, there are no rack mounts. That means I couldn’t put fenders or a rack on it. Yes, I understand that most fenders and racks would make the bike lose its elegant simplicity, but there are some great products out there, like the Sorengi brushed aluminum fenders and the Tubus Butterfly rack, that would look amazing on the bike, and make it a far more useful around-town ride.

A city bike needs gears! I would never ride a fixie as a commute bike.

http://www.nordenswansiirila.fi/ Mikael Siirilä

This is a case of beautiful design with no practical consideration. Large wheels are difficult in crowded urban streets and the lack of a rack for carrying stuff (shopping, anyone?) is a big minus. The matte black Finnish “Jopo” bike with 50 years of history is worthy a look at. My warmest recommendation.http://www.finnishdesignshop.com/jopo-bicycle-black-p-2829.html

Gerhard

cant believe why this bike gets so much media attention
This is not a special bike. Just a bunch of expensive bikeparts poorly combined together.

Jamie

I love the look of it, even if (as someone with, shall we say, a large frame myself) riding a fixed or single would cause my kneecaps to cry and pop off. But even to the rider for whom this would be a perfect mount, there is nothing about this bike, in either its design or components, that is remotely innovative, and I suppose that’s what we’re looking for in products called out here.

Alex

Yeah… it’s a fixie… SFW….

un

this is just a simple fixed gear bike, nothing special.
MOVE ALONG

Christian Barros

It has beauty aspects to consider but if the point was to take the bike to the maximum purity possible, the hole point of riding a city bike in the city is missing, hope you never get a flat tire, you would need some tools to dismount the wheel! a manual lock on the fork would do it!

Steve

Looks like pretty much every other single speed out there. I’m sorry but some of us actually live on hills. When they start using single speeds in the Tour de France, I’ll think about one.
Other than that, looks pretty well made.

dan

‘even the smallest nut is all black’ – well no it isn’t at all. and as already mentioned at least conceal the rear brake cable, altogether unremarkable… and €800!